Differentials

While this is “out of my area of expertise, I think…it’s inevitable that natural gas is going to be a world commodity, and that because of very substantial price differentials between the price in this country and the prices in Europe and Asia it will happen,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said during a roundtable briefing with reporters last week at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

While this is “out of my area of expertise, I think…it’s inevitable that natural gas is going to be a world commodity, and that because of very substantial price differentials between the price in this country and the prices in Europe and Asia it will happen,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said during a roundtable briefing with reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

Spot natural gas made it three straight days of advances Wednesday as attractive storage differentials at some Western points, along with cooler weather, prompted buying in most regions of the country. A handful of Northeast locations were the exception as the posted double-digit drops, mostly between a dime and 30 cents. At the close of futures trading May had fallen 4.6 cents to $2.141 and June had skidded 5.1 cents to $2.267. May crude oil tumbled $2.54 to $101.47/bbl.

Low gas prices, shrunken basis differentials, modest price volatility and abundant supply should make for an end-user’s dream, and they do. But North America’s gas renaissance comes with some wrinkles.

Cash prices bounded higher Monday and left futures in the dust as traders cited attractive storage differentials and were ambivalent about the prospects for storage gas flooding the market. At the close of futures trading April had advanced 2.5 cents to $2.351 and May had gained 3 cents to $2.466. April crude oil rose $1.95 to $107.06/bbl.

October natural gas trudged lower Friday as traders see widening differentials auguring further weakness. October fell 6.9 cents to $3.809 and November dropped 5.9 cents to $3.922. October crude oil shed $1.44 to $87.96/bbl.

With pipelines under way to move natural gas supplies in almost every direction, basis differentials that have “plagued” Rockies natural gas for so long are nearly gone, Williams CEO Steve Malcolm said last week.

With pipelines under way to move natural gas supplies in almost every direction, basis differentials that have “plagued” Rockies natural gas for so long are nearly gone, Williams CEO Steve Malcolm said Tuesday.

Favorable growth opportunities and improved basis differentials are likely to emerge from the Rockies as the western leg of Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX-West) prepares to start commercial operations in March, according to Questar CEO Keith Rattie, who spoke glowingly about his company’s links to the new pipeline as a part of a conference call.